Four siblings, identified as Jaber, Ali, Ahmad, and Mahmoud Abid al-Iwesat, were arrested on October 23, 2023, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel who carried out a raid and arrest campaign in their hometown of al-Shahil in eastern rural Deir Ez-Zour governorate. They were then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that the detainees’ phones were seized following their arrest, and they have not been allowed to contact their family.
SNHR is concerned that those detained may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become enforced disappearance cases, with 85% of all those detained in Syria falling into this category.
We call for the provision of both material and moral reparations for the victims and their families, and call on all parties to put an end to all arbitrary detentions whose only purpose is to spread mass fear and extort people.
We also call on the SDF to reveal the fate of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at its hands.
